Chapter Ten:

Truth

I managed to peel my eyes open and just stare at the roof for about an hour. It wasn't a bad movie last night, but there could have been more explosions. Dana was sleeping in the newly found bed while I was sleeping on the couch. You'd never know it looking at her, but Dana was a hell of a messy eater.

"If I have to clean up after her again…" I groaned. She seemed to be about fifteen, but I guess I couldn't exactly blame her. When you live in a cage all your life, eating properly is not exactly what you're worrying about.

Well, at least, that's what she says. For all I knew about her, she could've lived in a mansion in the Historic District before the blast, and I'd have been none the wiser.

What exactly do I know about her? She's claiming to be my sister, but…

I left a note for Dana, telling her that I'd be patrolling the city with Cole for a bit. It wasn't a lie, but I also needed to see Zeke about some information. Maybe, just maybe, I could find out who Dana was exactly.

Cole met me on a building not too far from our apartment. "You called?"

"I asked Zeke to look into Dana," I answered bluntly.

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'look into'?"

I crossed my arms. "Cole, she doesn't look a damn thing like me! Shouldn't sisters at least have a few features that look the same?" He was about to interrupt me when I stopped him. "How'd she know—or think—I was her sister when I had turned away from her before she got a look at me? Why didn't she have a place to stay, after all these weeks? And explain to me exactly how she got a big-ass katana that looks brand-freakin'-new, in a place where the newest thing should be food drops!"

He hesitated. "You suspect her of lying, then?"

"Kinda. I mean, I'm happy to have someone around, but the stuff she says… It sounds rehearsed, almost." I tapped my sneakers against the roof. "I think I wanna check this garage out. She says we escaped from there, so it'd help with her story."

"But it was right beside Ground Zero!" Cole exclaimed. "Everything could be destroyed!"

"Now, wouldn't that be convenient?" I said sarcastically. "You coming?"

"Definitely."

A few minutes later, we were standing at the ruined garage (made of concrete and rubble, currently). I looked for the car that Dana claimed I'd pushed over the grate, so I assumed that it was the only car in the friggin' garage.

I pushed it to the side (it rolled smoothly away, so no, I don't have super-strength) and looked at the floor. Sure enough, there was a grate. Cole blew it up and we made our way inside. I turned my fire on in the palm of my hand and used it as a torch.

"You really do come in useful when there are dank and murky places involved," Cole commented. "I could've used you when I was advancing my powers in the sewers. It doesn't hurt to have a bit more light." He activated his lightning in the palm of his hand as well.

I shook my head. "The way it jumps around like that, your lightning I mean, someone's gonna look at it one day and have a seizure."

"Sure, sure," Cole muttered, totally not believing me.

We found bodies all along the corridors. Some had been incinerated by some of the blast that must've come through the grate, but as we got deeper into the hidden area we found bodies everywhere. They hadn't been burned at all; instead their insides looked like they'd exploded out of them.

"Oh my God…" Cole and I murmured.

We continued moving in, ensuring to check our corners to see if anyone was going to jump out at us. Cole was looking behind us, trying to pinpoint a few weird sounds we were hearing. We finally found an elevator and descended further into the facility. There were more signs of battle down there, making us all the more cautious.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" I muttered.

Cole chuckled. "Star Wars reference?"

"It hasn't failed me yet." I stepped on something, and studied it. It was a book of sorts. "I'm gonna check this out!"

While I was flipping through the pages (which happened to be filled with meaningless formulas and equations), Cole scouted ahead. When I got to a page that somewhat interested me, I started reading:

"Subject has increasing forms of aggression towards Kessler. While Kessler assured us that this was supposed to happen, the Subject has repeatedly tried to escape. In order to rectify this, we're injecting the Subject with something to help them sleep, so we can get inside of their cage and study them further. Kessler doesn't mind at all, just as long as it doesn't harm the Subject."

I tore the page from the book and folded it into my pant pocket. I poked around further, looking into any books I could find that might contain more information, but I couldn't find anything.

"Great! And the book was just getting interesting!" I teased, trying to lighten my mood.

"Hey, Jo! Come check this out!" Cole called.

I followed his voice and the light his blue lightning gave off. But what I saw I didn't exactly like. There were bodies everywhere. Horribly mutated bodies. I couldn't tell if they'd even been human.

And in the middle of the room was some sort of helmet and gauntlet thing, suspended in the air by wires. Or tubes. Whatever they were, they were holding 'em up.

"The hell is this?" I wondered aloud.

Cole shrugged. "Beats me." He glanced over and saw something covered by a file cabinet. He and I searched the cabinet for anything, but when we found nothing he used a shockwave of electricity and tossed the filing cabinet away.

"It's a notebook," I told him, scooping it up and sitting on the table. "Maybe it'll tell us what that thing is?"

"Well, get reading. Your bad feeling is rubbing off!" Cole snapped, and then looked at where we'd come from. "I'll be over there keeping watch."

I nodded. "Okay."

I started reading when Cole was a ways away. I quickly realized that this wasn't any ordinary journal.

It was Kessler's.

Journal Entry #13:

"She's been giving us trouble again. Stupid child. She doesn't realize that doing this to her is necessary. How else can I get the Cole of this time his powers unless we test it on her? But how to explain this to a child who has lived her life in captivity? How to tell her that she was conceived because it was necessary for us to advance in our production of the Ray Sphere? Ever since she could cry, she's been subjected to everything we believed would bring us closer to the Ray Sphere. Surely she could understand one day that this also is going to help save the world. If Cole was the door, Kayce would be the lock, and we still need the key! Alden managed to break in today, and tried to take Kayce by force. I didn't let him, and he slapped her hard across the face. I shot him out of our base and had us relocated. He'll never get her. Never."

Journal Entry #27:

"Today, we injected her with more of our serum. She was screaming bloody murder, something about being burnt from the inside out. Good. Knowing what formula gives a fire Conduit powers will help us find something for the electric Conduit, and therefore give Cole his powers. It's almost time. The Ray Sphere is nearly complete. Dana is working on gaining Kayce's trust, and is going to plant a lockpick at the back of Kayce's cage. On the day of the blast, they'll escape. Hopefully, they'll get away beforehand, and Dana can study Kayce. See if she got abilities, or if she's another failure. That would be a shame, considering all the time I put into raising her. I don't think she understands just who she is exactly."

Journal Entry #44:

"It's time. I've just phoned Cole and told him to open the package. Kayce and Dana are escaping as I write. Everything has fallen perfectly into place. Soon, Cole will become the hero everyone needs him to be. Perhaps he can guide Kayce as well? But Cole needs to watch out for Dana; I have a feeling that she's going to betray the First Sons and take Moya Jones' offer. Either way, she'll have to watch the development of Kayce's powers firsthand—if she gets them. It would be interesting though, seeing as she's a potential fire Conduit, and I, her father, am an electric Conduit. This brings a new light onto my research. Not all Conduits pass down their power, but are able to give their children the potential to become one. Excellent."

Journal Entry #45:

"This will be my last entry in this journal, as the First Sons have become compromised. He's found our base. I will not let all the work I put into this be destroyed, especially by him! I've been monitoring Kayce. She has indeed gained the title of fire Conduit, but she's also contracted amnesia. Dana has been unsuccessful in finding her, and her reports are becoming less and less frequent. I fear she has indeed become a member of DARPA, and is going to lead Moya Jones to this very location. I've taught her well. Too well. But being that Kayce is her half-sister should make her soften up. Kayce has no doubt retained her personality, as she had always been too stubborn to listen to me. When she was young, I would hit her and she would cry. As she got older, I would hit her and she'd try to hit back—and she was sometimes successful. I have no doubt that soon her memories will return, and she will realize her place as a vessel for new Conduits. Humanity will be forced to accept both her and Cole as saviours—or as conquerors."

I dropped the journal, unable to look at anything more (mainly because there was nothing more). Cole came over and picked it up, a quizzical look on his face.

"The last chapter is the most interesting one I've read yet in a book!" I told him, trying my best to smile. "My only question is… do I keep calling you Cole? Or do you prefer 'dad'?"

Cole flipped the journal open and read it. All of it. At a few parts his mouth fell open in shock. And then he looked up at me and tried to say something.

"Yeah. Me being your potential daughter isn't exactly the way I thought it would end up, either," I told him.

I heard a huff not far away and quickly turned to look at the entrance. Dana stood there, her arms crossed and her face set.

"I knew you'd come here," she said. "You were always too curious."

"Dana?" I took a step forward, but stopped when I saw something that I hadn't even noticed before.

We were surrounded by DARPA troops.

"Now," Dana said, drawing a handgun from her coat and aiming it at me, "let's talk."